Bonaparte, Iowa

Episode 103 / 24 January 2019 / 140 min / full

It's Always The Quiet Ones

"Bonaparte, Iowa, in Van Buren County, in the far south-east corner of the state near the Missouri and Illinois borders" about 0:08:03

The case: Murder of the Bentler family (October 2006). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2019

Population

419

Median age

34.7

Median household income

$36,000

Median home value

$87,900

Two-bedroom rent

$780

Cost of living

82

Religious

39.6%

Property crime

▲ about 20 percent high

Violent crime

▲ 25 percent high

History, in brief

• Van Buren County was formed in 1836 as part of the Wisconsin Territory, split off from Des Moines County. about 0:09:30
• The county was named for President Martin Van Buren. about 0:09:42
• It became part of the Iowa Territory when that territory was organised in 1838. about 0:09:48
• The town was originally named Meeks Mills, after the Meek brothers' river mill complex. about 0:09:55
• The mill complex on the Des Moines River included a woollen mill, and the town was known internationally for the quality of its wool. about 0:12:04
• The Honey War was a border dispute between the Missouri and Wisconsin territories, with Missouri trying to collect taxes from residents who said they had already paid Wisconsin. about 0:14:00
• Iowa residents carrying pitchforks and torches chased away Missouri tax agents. about 0:15:02
• The tax collectors chopped down three honeybee trees to take the honey as partial payment. about 0:15:48
• Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs sent 11 mounted members of the 14th Division of the Missouri State Militia under Major David Wilcock to the disputed border. about 0:16:17
• An Iowa mob captured the sheriff of Clark County, Missouri, and jailed him in Muscatine, Iowa. about 0:17:01
• The authorisation for a total payment of 46 dollars to the Missouri militia covered seven days of active service. about 0:17:28
• The sheriff of Van Buren County was arrested and jailed by Missourians. about 0:17:39
• Missouri men were charged with stealing honey from bee trees. about 0:17:53
• Lots were surveyed in 1841 and the town was renamed Bonaparte; a site across the river was to be called Napoleon, and William Meek was an admirer of Napoleon. about 0:19:43
• The first dam was built in the river in 1846, with a stone masonry lock and dam for the mills. about 0:20:04
• The entire town flooded in 1851. about 0:20:20
• Flood losses diverted money and supplies to railroad companies, and Bonaparte continued to grow through the 1800s. about 0:20:26
• The population reached almost a thousand people near the turn of the century. about 0:20:48
• On June 3rd, 1903, the biggest flood in the history of the Des Moines River followed a week of rain, and the dam built in 1872 was washed away. about 0:20:52
• In 1905 another severe flood brought 16 inches of rain in three hours, washing out the railroad and wagon bridges and destroying dams and 14 buildings on Main Street; a large fire followed that year. about 0:21:19
• Within five years the population fell from 969 to 643, and the town never grew again. about 0:21:57
• By 1986 downtown businesses were boarded up and closing as people left. about 0:22:28
• Local wealthy residents tried to restore the remaining historic downtown buildings and keep businesses open. about 0:23:27
• The population was 597 in 1910 and 419 at the time of the episode. about 0:23:44
• Bonaparte has not had an increase in any census since 1940. about 0:24:00

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